Vacation

A couple of months ago, I bought a plane ticket to come home to Georgia this week. Even though I was just here a few weeks ago for Adam's funeral, since I already had the plane ticket, the time off, and the coverage for my caseload, I decided to go ahead and make the trip.

It hasn't exactly been the relaxing vacation I hoped for, starting with a lot of continued feelings of grief and anger about Adam among my family members and then moving on to the death of the brother-in-law of one of my best friends. While I am so, so glad that I could be here (I have known her family for many years and was a bit of an adopted child of theirs for quite some time), it has definitely been an emotional roller coaster of a week.

With a flight back to St. Louis Saturday night, I am trying to make the rest of my time here resemble a vacation as much as possible. For the first time, it's actually starting to feel like the fun and relaxing time I intended it to be when I bought my ticket many weeks ago. I'm visiting my sister in Asheville, and after an afternoon of visiting her boyfriend at the organic farm where he works, walking around galleries full of local art, and eating some truly fabulous vegan food, I just accompanied her to get her nose pierced. It's the most fun I've had in weeks, and I find it very comforting to be here nestled in among the mountains, tucked away from everything for just a little while.